We all go on about Pug dealers, Mercedes seem to be no better organised.
My brother said he wanted a GLA 45 AMG 4Matic, and wanted to order a 16 plate, having seen this black one in the showroom.
They went on about how 1 man in Stutgart is responsible for the making of each AMG engine, and how each engine is signed by the guy who makes it, and because of this there is a massive lead time, and it might already be too late to order one for the 1st of March, but they were happy to try to get one for then, or as soon after then as possible, OR, he could buy the one they had in the showroom which was brand new with delivery mileage, and all the kit on it that he wanted.
After test driving, he asked if it could be held until the 16 plates came out, but they said no, it would have to go on a 65 plate, as March was too far away to hold the car.
He agreed to have it on a 65 plate, and negotiations started, with me pushing for discounts everywhere & extra allowance on his BMW (he really is a salesman's dream, just accepting first offer & price on screen)
Price & part-ex agreed, they then discovered that in fact the car in the showroom was already registered as a Demo vehicle, and as such, had to be available in the showroom for 90 days to fulfil obligations with Mercedes.
So price was dropped accordingly and part-ex held although his BMW was going to be 3 months older, so hats off to the dealer there. They also said they would look to find another brand new vehicle if at all possible.
They then set about finding another exact same car (colour, spec, kit etc) and to everyone's surprise, there was another brand new unregistered one in the UK to exact same spec, except it had @ £360 more extras on it, but they said as they had made the error, they would keep to the demo model price agreed, and no increase in price for the extras.
So all was well in the end, but it turned a very simple car sale into a three day complication :sleeping-yellow: